Ninety patients were included in this prospective randomized trial. Each required electric colorectal surgery and was prepared for operation with oral preoperative antibiotic therapy, systemic peroperative therapy, or by a combination of both. The number of each type of septic postoperative complication and their total did not differ between the group treated by oral antibiotics prior to operation and the group treated peroperatively with systemic antibiotic therapy. The total number of septic complications (wall abscesses, fistulas, subdiaphragmatic abscesses, septicemia, peritonitis), however, was significantly less (P less than 0.05) in the group treated by both preoperative oral antibiotics and peroperative systemic antibiotic therapy (3.3 per cent) than in either groups treated only orally preoperatively (30 per cent) or by systemic antibiotic therapy during the operation (23 per cent). The combination of oral antibiotic therapy prior to operation and of systemic peroperative antibiotic therapy, therefore, presents the most effective prophylactic effectiveness.

Administration, Oral↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Evaluation of systemic antibiotic preventive treatment in colorectal surgery].

A comparison was made of two methods of prophylactic antibiotic therapy against the septic complications of colonic and rectal surgery: --preoperative oral antibiotics associated with peroperative systemic antibiotics; --peroperative systemic antibiotics only, continued for 24 hours after surgery. Both types of antibiotic therapy were of short duration and were designed to cover aerobic and anaerobic organisms. Two groups of 30 patients were selected at random. They were homogeneous. The septic complication rate was 10% in the oral plus systemic and 24% in the systemic group. It is felt that the combination of oral and systemic antibiotics remains preferable, in particular bearing in mind the efficacy of oral metronidazole.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗